I received this book for free from Publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
This World We Live In by Susan Beth Pfeffer Series: Last Survivors #2
Also in this series: Life As We Knew It
Also by this author: Life As We Knew It
Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt on 2010
Genres: Action & Adventure, Family, Science Fiction, Survival Stories, Young Adult
Pages: 239
Format: eARC
Source: Publisher
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It’s been a year since a meteor collided with the moon, catastrophically altering the earth’s climate. For Miranda Evans, life as she knew it no longer exists. Her friends and neighbors are dead, the landscape is frozen, and food is increasingly scarce. &nsbp;The struggle to survive intensifies when Miranda’s father and stepmother arrive with a baby and three strangers in tow. One of the newcomers is Alex Morales, and as Miranda’s complicated feelings for him turn to love, his plans for his future thwart their relationship. Then a devastating tornado hits the town of Howell, and Miranda makes a decision that will change their lives forever.
You ever read a book that makes you want to run to the grocery store and stock up on batteries, canned food, and eye the moon with suspicion? No? Well, friends, I think you need to check out the Moon trilogy by Susan Beth Pfeffer. The first book, Life As We Knew It, set my heart racing, as I read about Miranda’s seemingly ordinary life, and the mundane things she struggled with when her life changes after an asteroid hits the moon, thus knocking it out of orbit. I never got around to reading the second book of the trilogy, The Dead and The Gone, but I may have to, now that I’ve read This World We Live In, the final book within the trilogy.
This World We Live In by Susan Beth Pfeffer was a smashing finish to the moon trilogy. It continues several months after Miranda left off at the end of her diary in Life As We Knew It. I refuse to spoil the end of Life As We Knew It for you, so vaguely, we get to see what happened to Miranda and her family, and how they continue to cope with a completely different life than what they were used to. A few guests show up at the Evans’ door, which again leads to dramatic changes for Miranda. One of the guests is Alex Morales, the main character from The Dead And The Gone. What follows is an interesting mesh and interlinking of characters from the previous two novels, and we see the whole trilogy come together.
I enjoyed getting to know Miranda more, it’s fascinating how much a person’s eating habits tells you about them, for example. Many of Miranda’s diary entries are about how much she and her family are eating, which of course is an index of how the family is surviving. Obviously if they have 2 meals per day, they are doing pretty good for themselves. It’s so strange to think about how I became short of breath over canned food descriptions. I liked seeing Miranda deal with normal teenager things within the circumstances, such as dealing with a crush.
Stylistically, I think Pfeffer nails the female teenage voice. This World We Live In by Susan Beth Pfeffer is written in first person diary entries. You’ve got whining, ranting, raving, and a clear picture of the world around Miranda. Of course, I would be interested to see what is going on in the outside world, beyond their home in PA, but I think that would have detracted from This World We Live In, as the not knowing definitely creates tension, which I feel drives the book. And you know, I like books with palpable tension.
Overall, This World We Live In left me pondering. I’m wondering, if I were Miranda, would I survive? What do I think of safe towns? Does that sound like something my government would do? Aside from a racing mind, I thing Pfeffer also left the door open to possibly write more books pertaining to the characters I’ve grown to admire within the Moon trilogy.
I absolutely recommend This World We Live In by Susan Beth Pfeffer, it’s a solid post-apocalyptic read. Before reading it, you should definitely read Life As We Knew It. I did not read The Dead and The Gone, but that did not put me at a disadvantage while reading This World We Live In.
Other Reviews of This World We Live In:
Reading With Tequila
Carrie’s YA Book Shelf
See Michelle Read
Becky’s Book Reviews
Series Order:
Life As We Knew It (Book One)
The Dead And Gone (Book Two)
This World We Live In (Book Three)
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Glad you liked. I loved the first two.
I am obsessed with the first two. Life As We Knew It made me cry and feel depressed for a week, it touched be that much. I'm writing a book inspired by Susan called The Apocalypse!
http://flyawaywriting.blogspot.com/2010/02/apocalypse.html
Great review, I really like how Miranda deals with food, it's one of my favorite parts 😀
I cannot wait to read this one! I've read the first two and loved them – both for different reasons. I need to know what happens to them now!
For some reason, I loved the first book, but just could not get into #2 or this one. Maybe because the concept was just so unique and scary the first go round that I totally got caught up in the story.
I'm very glad to hear this lives up to the rest of the series! Having said that, I have no idea when I'll get the guts to read it. Life As We Knew It disturbed me far too much.
Loved your review and style of writing! Thanks for joining the link-up party. I hope to read your link-ups every week.
I am now a follower!
-CYM
This was one of the first books I ever WoWed, and I literally can't wait to read it. The first two seriously scared me (I still regularly contemplate getting solar panels in case a disaster cuts off the power) and I was way excited to hear that the protags from the previous two books would meet up in this one.
I'm so glad to hear you'd recommend this one. Sounds like more of the good same.
I just got the first in the mail. I really don't have time for it at the moment, but I am very tempted to push everything else aside and read it anyway. Come to think of it, I think I have you to blame for this, actually.